


Idle Minds

by bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid



Series: Solitude is Creativity's Best Friend [2]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Dubious Science, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Isolation, Reid is doing his best to pretend he's holding it together but the team sees through that easily, derek is dramatic, this author is salty about Derek not getting to visit reid in prison so this was born
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:02:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23255884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid/pseuds/bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid
Summary: Reid is exposed to a biotoxin and is forced to stay quarantined for two weeks. The team tries their hardest to keep him company and to keep his mind occupied, but it doesn't take long for them to realize they need assistance. Enter Derek Morgan.
Series: Solitude is Creativity's Best Friend [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1670578
Comments: 3
Kudos: 79





	Idle Minds

“Spence, how ya doing in there?” JJ asked through the comms. Spencer was on the other side of a thick window of glass, lounging on a couch. His body language looked relaxed but JJ knew him well enough to know that he was anything but.

“Good, Rossi brought me a bunch of books and a chessboard and played with me for a little while, Lewis brought me a stack of the most recent science journals, and Garcia brought me a few things to add some color,” Spencer said with a smile, gesturing at the stuffed animals on the couch next to him.

“Emily, Luke, and Matt will be by to visit you sometime tomorrow. I’m sure they’ll come bearing gifts as well. I am also going to come back with Will and the boys” JJ said, returning his smile.

“This little place is going to be completely filled up by the end of the two weeks,” Spencer said. JJ noticed that he was making an effort to keep things light and to seem optimistic. She suspected he was doing this entirely for her benefit. JJ had to get past his walls to figure out how he was really handling everything.

“They will go flying by,” JJ promised, then she stepped forward, closer to the window. “How are you feeling, Spence? Any side effects from the antidote?”

Reid picked up on her worried tone right away and stood up and walked over to the glass. She could get a better look at him now that he was closer. He looked the same that he always did, except slightly paler and the circles under his eyes were more pronounced. JJ could almost forget that 48 hours ago he’d been in a hospital bed, exposed to a bioweapon they’d been trying to track down.

“I’m still a little tired, but other than that I feel fine. Really. The antidote worked and now we just have to wait two weeks to make sure it is completely out of my system.” Spencer said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He’d been in his new quarantine room for 24 hours and JJ could tell that he was already starting to go a little stir crazy.

“I was so worried,” JJ admitted. “When he smashed that canister I thought that-”

“I know, but luckily it wasn’t a fast-acting toxin and we already had the antidote.” Reid rushed to assure her.

“It reminded me of when you contracted anthrax,” JJ said, remembering that terrifying day. The anthrax incident had been years ago, but she could still remember how scared she’d been like it was yesterday.

“I do seem to get myself into trouble a lot,” Reid admitted.

“Yeah, maybe you could stop that for a little while, give us a chance to breathe.”

“Well, you will be able to breathe for the next two weeks because I can’t get into any trouble when I’m locked in here,” Reid said, the humor leaving his tone. His use of the phrase ‘locked in’ set off alarm bells in JJ’s head.

“Spence…” She started but he shook his head and turned to walk back to the couch.

“This reminds you of the Anthrax incident, but it reminds me of prison.” 

And there it was. The very thing that JJ and the others had been so worried about. They all knew it was only a matter of time before the enclosed space and locked doors got to their resident genius. That’s why they had devised a plan to all make sure they visited him and gave him lots of things to keep his mind busy. An idle mind was dangerous for someone as intelligent as Reid.

“This isn’t-” JJ tried again but he interrupted her.

“Logically I know this isn’t a prison and the fact that the walls are white and everything is just a little too bright helps to distinguish it from the dark and grey cell I was in. But I also know that if I were to try that door I would find it locked, and the fact that I couldn’t leave if I wanted to is slowly driving me crazy.” Spencer admitted in a rare display of candidness. He’d gotten a lot better over the years at sharing his feelings, but JJ knew his instinct was still to keep everything locked up.

“I would be surprised if you weren’t feeling that way,” JJ said. “I know it’s been over a year, but the trauma you experienced in prison isn’t something that is going to go away,” JJ spoke with a slightly brutal honesty that she knew Spencer would appreciate. He didn’t like it when people treated him like he was delicate.

“I know, I know, and I appreciate what you are all doing,” Spencer said. JJ gave him a mock confused look and he responded with a smile that was the slightest upturn of his lips.

“I’ve only been in this place for a day and four of you have visited me and each one of you has brought me things to keep my mind occupied. You guys are trying to distract me from the fact that I am trapped. It’s a valiant effort, but I’m sorry to say that it’s not going to work.”

“I know we can’t distract you every second of every day, but Spence this isn’t the same as prison. We can visit at all hours of the day, and know that we will. We can bring you things that can help to entertain you. Penelope has already announced that if the team gets called away on a mission she is going to set up her mobile command center right in this room so she can be with you and so you can help us out. You may be in quarantine, but you are not as isolated as you were in prison. We just want to make sure you know that,” JJ said, hoping that her message was making its way into that big brain of his.

“I do know that thanks,” Spencer said, but the smile he gave her still didn’t reach his eyes. JJ knew that he was still terrified to be alone in that room, knowing that he couldn’t get out if he wanted to.

“Good, now how about a game of scrabble?” She asked, deciding to let that topic rest for the moment.

“How would that even work?” He wondered. JJ held up her phone and waved it at him.

“Another thing that is different from prison is that you have unlimited access to the internet. I come bearing a gift of my own,” She said and placed the item in the double-doored compartment next to the window. Reid opened up the door on his side.

“What is this?”

“An iPod, it does everything a smartphone does nowadays except for making calls. I know you are usually opposed to technology, but I figured you might be willing to make an exception in this case.”

“I suppose I can,” Reid said, looking at the object with a furrowed brow.

“Good I already set it up for you so you can just hit the words with friends app and we can play scrabble together,” JJ said, glad that he was willing to compromise.

They played several games. Spencer won them all with ridiculous ease but JJ didn’t mind. After the fourth game, she stood up and stretched, looking regretfully at Reid.

“It’s getting late, I have to go, but I will be back tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” Reid said, JJ could tell that he was trying hard not to show his disappointment.

“13 more days, you can do this Spencer.”

“Yeah, only 309 more hours,” He said with a wry grin.

“Oh, I almost forgot, there is an app on there called Spotify and it plays music. We all made a playlist for you. I think Penelope’s playlist is probably 309 hours long, she added so many songs,” JJ said with a laugh.

“Consider me intrigued,” Spencer said, squinting at the iPod.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, get some sleep, Spence,” JJ said softly.

“Goodnight,” Reid said, giving her a small wave.

It took all of JJ’s self-control to walk out of that place. The only thing that drove her was knowing that if she didn’t leave now, she probably wouldn’t ever leave and she had a family waiting at home for her to tuck into bed. As soon as she was out of earshot she pulled out her phone.

“How is he?” Penelope answered on the first ring.

“Holding it together, but barely. I think it’s time to bring in the big guns,” JJ responded.

“I’m on it, Garcia out,” Penelope hung up the phone and JJ hoped that Spencer made it through the night okay.

*****

“Hey, pretty boy,” Derek greeted, knocking his knuckles on the glass to make sure Reid heard him over the music. Spencer jumped at his voice and quickly shut off the music.

“Morgan?” Reid said in disbelief, coming over to the window and looking at him like he was a hallucination. 

“It’s me, kid, it’s me. Garcia called me last night and told me what was happening. And don’t you go getting mad at her, I told her that if something ever happened to you or any of the team again and she didn’t tell me, I might have to go and stop calling her my baby girl.”

“You didn’t,” Reid said, his eyes wide.

“I didn’t mean it of course, but it got my point across. You guys are still my family and I am still here whenever you need me,” Derek said, looking at Reid closely. He looked on edge and exhausted and Derek was glad that he’d come.

“I’m okay,” Spencer said, but even he didn’t look like he believed the lie.

“How much sleep did you get last night?”

“Not much,” Reid admitted, “But I don’t require a lot of sleep.”

“This isn’t about what you require, Reid. You aren’t on a case where you aren’t able to get a full night's sleep, you are in quarantine recovering from exposure to a biotoxin, you should be getting lots of sleep.” Morgan said with a sigh.

“How’s Hank doing?” Reid asked, not even trying to be subtle in his attempt to change the subject.

“He is doing marvelously, and so is Savannah. And I have about 100 pictures and videos to show you if you just answer one question for me,” Derek said, not willing to be distracted.

“What question?” Reid asked suspiciously.

“What’s the worst part?”

“What?”

“C’mon Reid, what is the worst part about being in there? I know there is something that is bothering you more than you are letting on. Level with me, man,” Derek pleaded.

Reid paced back and forth a couple of times. Derek could tell that he was debating how much to tell him.

“Spencer,” He said softly, waiting until Reid had stopped pacing and looked at him. “It’s me, you can tell me what is really going on,” Derek said. The kid was like his little brother and it hurt him to see him suffering.

“When I am with you guys, and even for a few hours when you all leave, I can distract myself from thinking too much. I can remind myself that I am in a medical facility and not a prison cell. I can remind myself that this isolation is for the safety of everyone and as soon as they are sure all traces of the toxin are out of my system I am free to go. I can remind myself that this isn’t prison because I can have personal belongings and listen to music and there isn’t anyone actively trying to kill me,” Reid said in a rush.

“And what happens after you start thinking too much?”

“My rational thinking goes away and all I can think about is how small and unnaturally quiet this place is and how utterly alone I am. And how I may be able to see outside, but if I were to try to open that window alarms would go off. And that all makes the irrational side of the brain think that I am still trapped in my prison cell,” Reid admitted.

“Yup, that’s what I thought,” Derek said with a nod, Reid had just confirmed everything he’d been sure the agent had been feeling. It was all that he needed to hear.

Derek walked over the airlock and opened up the door.

“Morgan, what are you doing? You need a hazmat suit to come in here. Derek!” He heard Reid yelling at him but he ignored it. Derek hadn’t been there for Reid when he’d been arrested in Mexico and then put in gen pop back in the States, but he sure as hell could be there for his brother now.

An alarm went off, probably triggered by Spencer, but it was too late. The room was designed to keep contagions inside, not to keep people out so Derek was easily able to open it and step inside. 

Reid was standing as far away from the door as possible, his hand outstretched to keep Morgan from moving any closer.

“Stop, go back outside,” He ordered.

“It’s too late, I’m already contaminated. I guess they’ll have to put me in quarantine now,” Derek said with a grin.

“This isn’t funny, Morgan,” Reid said, running his hands through his hair in frustration. Derek could see a team of medical staff outside the room frantically putting on their hazmat suits.

“Relax, Reid. They’ll give me the antidote just to be safe and then I’ll wait out my two weeks with you,” Morgan said, unbothered.

Reid looked like he was about to argue more, but at that moment, the doctors and nurses came through the door.

“Mr. Morgan, that was an incredibly risky and stupid thing to have done,” A man, who Derek assumed was the head doctor, said.

“I know, and I’m sorry, I just couldn’t let him be alone in here for two weeks,” Derek said. The doctor’s expression softened. Morgan assumed that the man had been briefed on Reid’s history. He was sure the BAU team would’ve let the doctor know there was a risk that Spencer wouldn’t handle isolation well.

“Be that as it may, you never should’ve come in here without a suit and my permission. We have a visiting room on the other side of that glass for that very reason.”

“Doctor Amati, I’m sorry, I never…” Spencer said, but the doctor just waved his hand at the agent.

“I know Doctor Reid,” He said with a frustrated sigh. “Well, I suppose there's nothing to be done. We luckily have plenty of antidotes since the people who made the biotoxin were very paranoid. And as much as I hate to reward such reckless behavior, after you receive the antidote you can serve out your two weeks of quarantine here with Doctor Reid.” 

Derek grinned and Reid let out a noise that was half angry and half relieved. The doctors took Derek into the back room to administer the antidote and to run a few tests. When he came back out, Penelope was standing on the other side of the glass with her hands on her hips.

“Derek Morgan, I could strangle you right now,” She said as soon as she saw him. “When I called you in to help brighten Reid’s spirits this is not what I meant.”

“I know, baby girl,” Derek said with a smile.

“Don’t think the use of that nickname and that charming smile can get you out of this one. Oh, I am so mad at you,” Garcia said, waving her finger at him. Morgan looked over and Reid and saw that he was smiling. That alone was worth everything. “Oh my god, I have to call Savannah. Morgan, you left her to take care of Hank all by herself for two weeks. How could you do this?”

“Savannah already knows,” Derek responded.

“What?” Garcia and Reid asked in unison.

“I told Savannah that if I got here and was worried about Spencer being in here by himself I was going to go in. That’s why I asked you so many questions about the biotoxin. We went over the risks carefully before I decided to do anything.”

“You came here anticipating breaking into my room?” Reid said in disbelief. 

“It was an option, yes,” Derek said. Both Reid and Garcia gave him disgusted looks and frustrated sighs.

“Hey now! Look, was it a little dramatic? Yes. But I had to do something. Reid when I heard that you’d been in prison for months and I didn’t know, I felt so helpless. You wouldn’t tell me anything about your time inside but I could tell that it was horrible and there was nothing I could do to make it better. So this time I had to do something to make sure you didn’t feel like you were alone,” Derek explained.

“I can’t believe Savannah agreed to this,” Garcia said.

“I think her exact words were ‘God save me from my idiot of a husband’. But she saw how torn up I was about Reid and knew that I had to do something. So yes, she begrudgingly agreed. Although I will probably have to take up a long-term residence in the dog house.”

Garcia muttered something under her breath that sounded like “serves you right,” and then louder she said, “Well, I am going to go update the team. Prentiss is visiting today, I’m sure she’ll love to hear your explanation for this in person.” Garcia headed out into the lobby to make her phone call.

When she left, Derek turned to Reid, who was watching him with an expression that Morgan couldn’t read.

“I would’ve been okay, you know. I mean it wasn’t going to be easy and I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I would’ve made it through,” Spencer said after a few moments.

“I know, but you would’ve suffered, and it would’ve made the entire team suffer to watch you. It would’ve made me suffer to watch you. Reid, I didn’t do this because I didn’t think you were strong enough to make it through on your own. I did this for purely selfish reasons.”

“So you could feel like you were doing something,” Reid said.

“Exactly.”

“Uh-huh,” Reid said, making his disbelief known.

“Does it feel better?”

“What?”

“The room. Does it feel less like a prison cell with me here?” Morgan asked.

“Yes,” Reid said without hesitation.

“Then it was worth all of the risks,” Morgan responded.

***2 weeks later***

“Reid, you awake?” Morgan asked. It was early in the morning, but Derek knew that Reid was probably having as much trouble sleeping as he was. He’d been able to catch a few Zs but had woken up a half an hour ago and hadn't been able to fall back asleep.

“Yeah”

“You excited to get sprung today?”

“I would’ve been able to leave yesterday if it weren’t for that stunt you pulled,” Spencer responded, causing Derek to laugh.

“True, but then you wouldn't have been able to bask in my company for the past two weeks. Now tell me that wasn’t worth it,” Morgan said. Reid was quiet for so long that Morgan thought he may have gone to sleep.

“It was worth it,” Spencer said finally. He sat up in his bed and Derek mirrored the action. “Thank you, Morgan. If I’m being honest I don’t think I would’ve made it through this time without you here. I barely made it with you,” Reid said. Derek was reminded of the thought spirals he’d talked Reid out of and the nightmares he’d comforted him after. “No one has ever done anything like that for me before, I am really lucky to have a friend like you. I know I don’t say this enough, but I love you, Morgan,”

“I Love you too, kid, and I'm always here for you,” Derek said trying not to show his surprise at Reid’s uncharacteristic display of affection. “No matter what.”

“This was a little bit extreme,” Spencer said with a laugh. “You definitely took the protective big brother role to heart, but thank you.”

“Anytime, but maybe try to stay out of danger for a little while, at least until Savannah has forgiven me for leaving her alone with a two-year-old for two weeks,” Derek said with a laugh of his own.

“I don’t know if I can stay out of trouble for that long, it might be years,” Reid said. Derek was glad to see him smiling and joking at the end of a two-week quarantine. He knew that if he hadn’t been in there, Reid's attitude would be completely different.

“Fair enough. Now, what do you say we go see if our lovely Doctor is awake and then we can finally blow this popsicle stand.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Reid said.

Over the past two weeks, he and Reid had played every card game they knew, listened to thousands of songs, watched dozens of movies, and caught up on the time they’d been apart. Spencer had finally told him the situation surrounding Mexico and what had transpired in prison. Derek had told him how he’d struggled with transitioning into civilian life and how much work having a child actually was. Derek knew it had been incredibly stupid for him to walk through that airlock door, but he wouldn’t take it back for anything.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay listen, I know that in real life Derek definitely wouldn't just be able to open the door and walk into Reid's quarantine room, but I hope you were able to suspend your disbelief and enjoy the story!
> 
> I am determined to stave off the boredom of isolation by writing as much fanfic as possible. So if you have requests or prompts please send them in to me!!!
> 
> Here's a link to a post on my tumblr of all of the fandoms I'm down to write a fic for  
> https://macspaperclips.tumblr.com/post/613069342535565312
> 
> "Solitude is creativity's best friend, and solitude is refreshment for our souls."  
> ~Naomi Judd


End file.
